The Dollhouse
by lizzabet
Summary: Jane had found love again and he was finally happy. But then tragedy strikes again when he has to bury his second wife too. Refusing to believe that Lisbon is dead, Jane is determined to find out what really happened before it really is too late.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This is my first ever The Mentalist story! I just rewatched everything and knew I had to get this story off my mind. First I really wanted to write something with Volker's revenge, but it turned into this instead.. I might still write one with Volker later.**

 **Anyways, I really hope you like this one. I'm always nervous when I post new stories. And the next chapters will be longer if people find this interesting.**

Chapter one

 _March, 27_

His mind was clouded. All he could hear as he ran from his car was her gut-wrenching scream. When they first realized she was missing, the morning she failed to show up for work, he'd still had hope that when they found her she would be alive. Possibly in a bad shape, but nevertheless alive. Cho had described the scene as gruesome and advised Jane to stay home, but he just had to see it for himself. Images of his first wife's body flashed through his mind and he knew that just like he had avenged her death he would find the man who murdered Lisbon too.

He had failed them both. Lisbon went missing a week ago and even if he solved every case he just couldn't find out who took his wife. They only knew that whoever took her was a stranger to her, someone she might've met once or twice, but she wouldn't pay attention to. And after checking all the places she visited frequently they were none the wiser. He was a ghost that didn't want to Ben found. Not even Jane couldn't make that happen, just like it took him years to find Red John. Perhaps the grief made the possible impossible.

Coming to a full stop in front of the police tape he took a deep breath, closing his eyes, before ducking under it and cautiously walking up to his colleague.

"Is it really hers?" He asked, his voice trembling slightly.

The warehouse they were in looked even worse than Cho had described. He had mentioned the gruesome part, but that did nothing to prepare him for this sight. There was blood everywhere, splatter on the wall, puddles on the floor, mostly beneath a single chair where rope was still attached.

"We won't know until the lab's done with it," Cho answered, his voice withholding any kind of emotion, even if Jane knew inside the other man had a turmoil of feelings.

"Where's her body? If there's no body she might still be alive," he said, sounding just a little hopeful, even if he knew that the blood loss might have been enough to kill her.

"We followed these drag marks," he said and pointed to the floor where sure enough a trail of blood led to a single barrel.

Patrick Jane wasn't sure he wanted to look inside, another image flashing through his mind. This time of Lisbon's bloody and beaten body. He'd seen her banged up before, but nothing like this. On the edge of the barrel he could see dark strands of hair and Jane already felt like he was going to be sick.

"If she was put there, there's not much left of her," Cho told him as Jane looked inside.

"Is that..." he trailed off and sniffed the air over the barrel, grimacing slightly as the smell reached his nostrils.

"Sodium hydroxide? Yes it is. I imagine he wanted to get rid of the body, or most of it," he sighed and looked around what they could just assume was where she'd been tortured and then evatually murdered.

"It doesn't make any sense," Jane shook his head and scratched his growing beard. "Why leave all this blood here and then put her body in sodium hydroxide as if he doesn't want us to be able to identify her body."

A part of him just wanted to believe that Lisbon was alive and well. Perhaps not well by the looks of this crime scene, by the hair and blood belonging to her. Though he knew the coroner most likely would declare Teresa Lisbon dead and they would have to bury what was left of her body.

"Or he knew he'd left evidence on her body that could identify him," Cho suggested, quieter than before.

The suggestion took time to sink in and the ideas that came to mind were nothing Jane ever wanted to imagine. Putting a hand to his mouth, he ran outside, bending over and emptying his stomach of what little he had eaten that day. In fact, since Lisbon's sudden disappearance Jane had barely eaten at all, or slept.

In a way he wanted to punish himself for his failure to bring back the one thing he cared most about. Cho didn't make his presence known behind him, except for the vague sound of his shoes hitting the gravel.

"I'm sorry, Jane," he said, putting one hand on his shoulder in an attempt to soothe him.

But Jane didn't want that pity because it meant that Lisbon was truly dead, that Cho had given up the hope of her being alive. The first time his wife died he had been destroyed and put in a mental hospital and he didn't know if he could deal with another loss; he wasn't sure he could live with it.

"We can't know for certain that it's her," he told his colleague, though perhaps he was just trying to tell himself this.

"If the blood is hers, she lost a lot," Cho commented, and cocked his head to the side, studying his surroundings. "We also found a few strands of hair on the side of the barrel that could be hers which means that the body is hers too."

"What if someone placed it there so we'd think she was dead?" Jane suggested, again sounding hopeful. He needed that to be true, but he also knew that if it was, her whereabouts would be hard to find. This guy was good and knew enough to fool the FBI. Well, two can play that game.

"Why would anyone do that?" Cho's arms were crossed over his chest as he looked at the blonde.

Jane stood up abruptly. "Why would anyone kill another person?" He countered and started walking again, this time back toward his car. He had seen everything he needed to see and the crime scene would forever be etched to his memory.

Cho knew better than to follow him and could only watch as the other man drove away.

Jane had a mission. He didn't care if they declared his wife dead, all the evidence pointed to her being brutally killed, but he would not rest until he found her or her killer.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N I've taken way too long to update this story! I got a review the other day that gave me a kick in the butt! Apparently I had written this a while ago, but wasn't that happy with it. This story will jump a little in time, in case you get confused.**

 **—**

Chapter two

 **Two weeks ago, March 13**

Jane had been true to his word and spent almost all his free time rebuilding their dream house and Lisbon loved him for that, even if it meant he didn't join her for work every day. In fact, he only came in when they really needed it. Some nights he even slept up there so that he could continue working until late in the evening and then begin again as soon as he woke. The bed felt empty, though, when Jane couldn't share the bed with his wife, but she was always kind to drop off breakfast and tea every morning before going to work. He just wanted to finish the house as soon as possible so that they could start their new life together. They deserved that much.

"Are you really sure you know how to build a house?" Lisbon had asked several times, a small smirk playing on her lips. At this time he knew she was just teasing him.

"You have no faith in me," he said to her, giving her a quick peck on the lips as he accepted the breakfast and tea. "So tell me about the case." They could still get Jane's input even if he didn't go to the crime scene or interviewed witnesses.

Lisbon sat down on the stool, watching her boyfriend as he sawed through a board.

"A bridesmaid was found dead by the bride, the day of the wedding," Lisbon explained and pulled out the photos from the crime scene. "She was strangled to death, but she had these strange marks on her back."

Jane hummed and stepped away from the board to look at the photos. "Looks like something was pressed into her back. They're too thick and shallow to be knife marks."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too," Lisbon hummed.

"So how did we get this case?" Jane asked, curious about who this victim really was.

"The bride was judge Kathryn Spencer."

Jane had only met the judge once before in a courtroom and he couldn't really picture the woman in that kind of environment. "Not the dream wedding she would've hoped for... So any suspects yet?"

"I like the groom for this. He's had a relationship with the victim before and he was the last one to see her."

"Anything else?" He asked when he had finished studying the pictures.

Lisbon was a great agent and had learned a lot about reading people from Jane. Her previous tells when bluffing had lessened and she closed more cases now even without Jane. They didn't give her enough credit, in Jane's opinion, so he was glad to take a step back and let everyone see Lisbon's abilities.

"It's a crime of passion," she hummed and took a bite of her sandwich. "It must have been someone she was close to, but perhaps she was going to leave him. That would be a motive."

Jane nodded slowly and left his work to sit down next to her. "You clearly don't need me anymore," he teased and leaned forward to peck her lips.

"Oh hush," she chuckled against his lips. "You know I couldn't survive without you." It was hard to remember a time when she'd been this happy. Lisbon had had a few boyfriends in her life, but none had been serious and lasted more than a year.

"Perhaps I'll come back when I'm done with this house." Jane was a man who needed to keep busy and right now he was focused on this house. He still didn't know what he would do with his life after he was done, but he was hoping to start a family with Lisbon and perhaps he would take a year to spend with their child. What he really wanted was to sail the world, but Lisbon would never give into that.

"So when do you think you'll be done with this?"

"I think we could start moving in in a month actually," he said, proudly. If he was honest, he didn't think he could pull this off either so he was glad to soon have something to show her.

"Then I guess I'll have to sell the house," Lisbon scrunched her nose. "But first I have a case to solve." Jumping of the chair, she downed the rest of the coffee before giving her husband a hug. "I'll swing by tonight."

"Why don't you just sleep here with me tonight?" Jane suggested, holding her locked in his arms.

"My bed is quite empty nowadays..." she hummed, considering his offer. "But I have to be honest with you... That bed in the airstream isn't very comfortable."

Jane exaggerated a gasp. "I can't believe you just said that. You wound me, woman!"

Lisbon tapped his chest and gave him a crooked smile. "Sorry, babe. Now I really have to go."

The blond man was reluctant to let go of her and she gathered up the case files before blowing him a kiss, just so he wouldn't keep her from going to work.

 **March 20**

As her alarm clock went off, Lisbon groaned out loud and tried to hit it with her right hand to make the shrill sound stop. She really needed to wake up to something else, like birds singing. That's probably one of the things she looked forward to the most with the house Jane was rebuilding. It would be out in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors that could keep her up at night or cars driving by. Jane and Lisbon would be the only people there.

A smile spread across her face at that thought and she slowly sat up. The space next to her was empty this morning too since Jane had decided to sleep in the airstream again. He probably wouldn't need that house on wheel in the future when they had a place to live, but she'd had to admit that the thing did come in handy at the crime scene and perhaps the vehicle would make vacationing easy. So she would never ask him to get rid of the pile of steel.

Sighing, she left her bed to start her normal morning routines. Before she went in the shower she put on the coffee to save some time later. The clothes she was going to wear today was already on the dresser. A white blouse, a pair of black pants, a black jacket and clean underwear. Grabbing a towel, she hung it on a hook close to the shower, next to her robe. The brunette turned on the shower and as the water got hot she undressed.

The house was quiet when she was alone, especially now that she had gotten used to Jane's constant presence. There was no humming or whistling from the kitchen, and the usual smell of bacon and pancakes. The most she did for Jane in the morning was sandwiches, but he never seemed to mind that she wasn't the best cook.

When she was done showering she stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel to dry herself. Her showers were much more pleasant when Jane decided to join her. Just the thought made her body tingle. Shaking her head, she wrapped the towel around her body and walked into her bedroom to get dressed.

In twenty minutes she had to be in her car so she had to hurry up a little. She honestly didn't remember snoozing this morning, or perhaps she took too long in the shower. Lisbon plugged the dryer into the wall before she grabbed the kettle and filled it with water, putting it on the stove. As she waited for the tea water she grabbed a cup of coffee, pouring some sugar in it and stirring. Taking a few sips, she returned to her bedroom to dry her hair.

The shrill sound of the tea kettle alerted her that the water was ready a few minutes later. She must have stood up too quickly, she realized when the room began spinning. Closing her eyes, she took a deep steadying breath to will the dizziness to disappear. Her hand grabbed the wall to help keep her balance as she walked toward the stove. Was she getting sick? It sure felt like it. Her head felt like it was exploding and when she opened her eyes her vision seemed to blur. Yes, Something was definitely wrong. Her first instinct told her to call Jane, to tell him that she felt bad, that something had happened. But she only got two steps before she lost her footing and fell to the floor, her stomach to the ground.

Through the blurriness of her vision she could see that she was no longer alone in the apartment. A shadow figure crouched down in front of her, his hand reaching out to stroke her still drying hair, the touch gentler than she would have expected. Her breathing got heavier and she begged her body to move, to strike back, to stay awake, but no matter how much she tried nothing could keep her eyes open and soon she was succumbed to darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I got some mad case of inspiration for thua story and wrote four chapters! I'm gonna try to update once a week! I really hope you like this...**

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Chapter 3

The sun was brighter than usually this morning and almost blinded her when she tried to open her eyes. Lisbon always made sure to close the window blinds in the evening to shut out the bright sun, but it seemed like she had forgotten to do that last night. With a yawn she stretched out her unusually stiff limbs and sat up on the edge of the bed, a hand in front of her eyes to block out the light. What was wrong with the sun today? Looking around her room she could also feel like something was terribly wrong with this whole situation. Her room looked the same as far as she could tell, but there was something gnawing inside of her. Slowly, she rose from the bed and walked toward the bedroom door. Perhaps she just needed a really nice cup of coffee. At least she hoped that was the case.

But as she pressed down the handle the door wouldn't budge. She never locked the door. Why was it locked? Lisbon tried again, but to no avail. Was it even possible to lock this door? And where was they key?

Even if she doubted the key would just be lying around in there, she felt the need to look. Perhaps she had found a key to the door last night and in a tired state decided to lock it, despite her better judgment about fire hazards. If her room hadn't been exactly like it usually was, to every little detail, she would've thought she had been taken somewhere else, the feeling in the pit of her stomach told her as much. Even the bathroom was the same and all the toiletries. So someone must have locked her inside of her own room.

No, that wasn't true. Something was different in her room, she noticed. In one of the corners, where the walls met the ceiling, was a camera she knew she hadn't put there, one she hadn't seen until her eyes had adjusted enough to the light.

That made her stop looking for the key she knew wasn't there. She tried not to let the panic take a hold of her body. Just breathe, Lisbon, she tried telling herself. Whatever this was, she could get out of it.

"Good morning, Teresa," a loud, rough voice startled her and made her turn several times to check who the voice belonged to, but she was still alone in the room. "I'm delighted to finally welcome you to the dollhouse."

The dollhouse? What was that? Who were talking to her? Then she definitely wasn't in her own home, but the room was an exact copy to her own. Creepy.

"Who are you?" Lisbon asked, looking up to the camera, guessing he could see her even if she couldn't see him.

"We will have dinner later tonight," was his answer to the question. "A daily schedule will be delivered to you any moment now and then you will join the others for breakfast so I suggest you get dressed and ready."

Lisbon blinked a few times, dumbfounded. What the hell was this? There were other people here? Not just she and him. He was true to his words and a second later there was a knock on the door, as if she could let them in, before the door unlocked and the small blonde girl came in with the letter on a tray.

"Good morning, miss Lisbon," she spoke to the stunned Agent.

This girl couldn't have been more than fourteen years old. Had she been taken just like Lisbon had? She was so young. And looked surprisingly well and happy.

"Daddy told me to give this to you. It contains all the important details of the day." She put the tray down and seemed to study Lisbon, perhaps waiting for a reply.

The dark-haired woman didn't know what to say. She'd referred to the captor as daddy. So she wasn't kidnapped herself, just caught in her father's sick games. Though so far she didn't know what that game was.

"Where am I?" She decided to ask.

"You are home," the girl said shortly, causing a chill to run down Lisbon's spine.

"No, I already have a home," Lisbon said firmly. "Why am I here?"

"You're family. We're all family here. Now you're a part of it too."

"I already have a family too. I have people who are going to wonder where I am," Lisbon said, thinking about how crazy Jane must be going when she didn't turn out with his cup of tea and sandwich this morning.

"You don't have to worry about that," the girl said with a smile. "You need to get ready, miss Lisbon. Breakfast is in 30 minutes." With those words the girl left, the lock clicking in place behind her. The brunette had so many more questions to ask, but hopefully someone at breakfast had the answers.

Sighing, she opened her wardrobe and flipped through the clothes. A lot of them looked exactly like the ones she would wear, but there were a couple formal dresses that she wouldn't be caught dead in.

Perhaps that's what would happen. Perhaps she would be caught dead in one of those dresses. No, she had to believe that Jane was out there looking for her and he would find her. She was sure that now as she was picking out what to wear, he was checking her place after she failed to show up and didn't answer her phone.

A part of her wanted to laugh at herself for actually playing along with this man's games by getting ready, but the other part wanted to know more, wanted to see who was keeping her here and how the hell this happened.

Picking out a blouse, a pair of slacks and a jacket, she walked into the bathroom to change. She didn't know why she thought her privacy would be respected and that he wouldn't put a camera in the bathroom, because she was terribly wrong. Lisbon didn't like the idea of getting undressed when he might be watching, but she couldn't walk around in a short nightgown all day. So she decided to grab a towel to hide her body as she changed. Hopefully he wasn't even watching right now.

Getting dressed took longer today and when the knock came again her pants were halfway up. The door open and she quickly buttoned them up before grabbing her jacket. She look like the FBI agent she was, she realized as she checked herself in the mirror. There was also something else she was surprise she hadn't noticed earlier. Why hadn't she felt this before?

Around her neck was a necklace she'd never seen before. Her eyebrows furrowed and she touched the cold metal. It was actually quite beautiful even if she hadn't picked it out herself.

"Time for breakfast," the same girl as before said through the open door.

"Yeah," Lisbon hummed, releasing the necklace and turning away form the mirror.

As they exited the room her eyes scanned her surroundings to check out where she was and look for any potential exits, some way to escape this place they called the dollhouse.

Outside her room was a long corridor with several doors along the way that you could only guess was other rooms just like hers. They all had different names written on them Julie, Madeleine, Elizabeth, Sarah… Hers said Teresa.

At the end of the corridor, they passed through a spacious living room before they entered the dining hall and she tried, but failed, to not show her surprise. The girl who had escorted her wasn't the only kid there.

If she counted them quickly there were roughly 12 of them, even more than that. The youngest one must have been only a few months old.

The women in the room turned their attention toward Lisbon as she entered.

"This is Teresa," the girl next to her spoke. "She just moved in."

The way she talked sounded so casual, as if she hadn't been taken against her will. Were these other women here voluntarily? By the look in their eyes, those blank stares, they were in the same position as her. They hadn't chosen to come here any more than she had.

The others kind of looked like her. All with brown hair and they were somewhere between 30 and 50. He definitely had a type. The kids though, she didn't know where they came from.

"You can sit down," the teen said and she realized she had stood there for a little too long. Blinking twice she snapped out of her analyzing and sat down next to one of the women.

"I'm Elizabeth," she introduced herself and Lisbon could remember reading that name on one of the doors.

"Teresa," she shook her hand. The other women followed Elizabeth's lead and introduced themselves too.

Ever the agent, she knew she needed to start asking questions, but where would she start?

"How… " She started, hesitantly. "How long have you… um... lived here?"

Some of the women turned their gazes down to their food, clearly uncomfortable. Elizabeth looked around them before deciding to answer the question.

"I've lived here the longest," she said in an almost quiet whisper as if she didn't want someone to hear. Perhaps the kids. Or maybe him. Who knew where his eyes and ears were. "I think it's been 15 years."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Realized I forgot to write date on the last chapter, but I will have to do better with that because this story will jump back and forth a lot in the beginning! Hope you enjoy this!**

 **—**

 **March 20**

Chapter 4

This place was really coming together. Jane smiled proudly to himself as he finished the wall to what would later become the living room. The first layer of paint had dried overnight and he just painted the second layer. He also knew exactly how to furnish this space when the time came, the mental picture clear in his mind. This morning he had started at six just so he would be done by the time his wife came so he could show her something.

Speaking of Lisbon, she should've been here by now. He was kind of longing for his morning tea. Wiping his hands on a towel, he brought out his phone to give her a call just in case she had overslept. His wife had done that a few times in the past so she would probably appreciate him calling to wake her up.

Pressing her name, he waited for her to answer. The fact that he got to voicemail the first time didn't alarm him. Neither when she didn't pick up the second or third time. If she was driving she wouldn't pick up anyways if she knew it was him and was already on her way there. An hour later though, when she should've delivered the breakfast and already gone to work, he began to worry just a tad. Though he tried to come up with a reasonable explanation to where she was, even if he had a sinking feeling. Since she still wouldn't take his call, he decided to try Cho instead.

"This is agent Cho," the other man replied.

Normally Jane would've made fun of the formal greeting the agent had given him, but there was no time for that.

"Is Lisbon at work?" he asked without saying hello.

"Actually, no. We tried calling her just a few minutes ago."

"I think something has happened," Jane said and as he did he rushed to his car and drove away toward Lisbon's house.

"Maybe she's overslept?" Cho suggested the same excuse Jane had tried before. "It's happened once before, right?"

"I've called her like ten times, she would've woken up by now," Jane said, probably driving way over the speed limit.

"Hm..." was the only thing Cho answered. "You might be right. Do you want us to go to her house?"

"I'm already on my way there. I'll call you when I get there."

Jane tossed the phone onto the passenger seat, the device bouncing once before hitting the floor, but he barely noticed.

As he reached her street he parked the car quickly, and jumped out of the vehicle, running up to the door of the house.

The door was unlocked, which he hoped meant that she was still inside. Maybe he had just overreacted and her phone had died during the night. Though if that was the case he would've gone straight to voicemail.

The first thing that hit him was the silence, like a heavy fog that he could probably cut with a knife. Had her house always been this quiet?

When he got further inside he saw the travel cup Lisbon always brought to him on the bench and next to it a cup of coffee that someone was in the midst of drinking, but hadn't gotten to finish. The hot water was still on the stove and as he came closer he realized the water was like-warm, he could still feel the heat around it. Something had definitely gone wrong here. He was going to call Cho right away, but remembered that he left the phone in the car outside. So he decided to continue his search of the house.

"Lisbon?" He called out, still hoping that she was here somewhere. A fall in the shower would've been a lot better than the things he had imagined.

There was no answer and the air was still quiet. His legs carried him toward the bedroom and he open the door slowly, suddenly afraid of what he would find in there. It was empty. The bed was made like it was every morning and the bathroom floor was still wet from someone who had recently showered. So she had done her normal morning routine: The bed, showered, made coffee and tea… And his bag with the sandwich was all packed. And then something bad happened. Or maybe rather someone by the looks of it.

Hurriedly he ran ran toward the car, getting his phone from the passenger side's floor and called Cho again.

"Yes?" Was his reply this time. Less formal. More worry.

"She's not here. Something has happened to her. I need you to send some people over to check for evidence."

"Evidence? What do you think happened?"

"Someone took her," he answered shortly because he was positive that was the truth.

"Are you sure?" Chi wanted to know, but he could tell he was taking Jane seriously as he had started to move around on the other side of the line.

"Yes, she wasn't anywhere in her house and she was interrupted in the middle of making tea and drinking coffee."

Jane stopped in the doorway of the house, letting his eyes scan the place again to see if there was something else amiss. He had once expressed his concerns about the danger of her job, that she was making herself a target, and now it turned out that he had been right. Because what other enemies did she have than the criminals she'd once put behind bars, or sometimes even the families of the perps.

The blonde mentalist didn't know how long you're still there when he heard several vehicles speed down the street, screeching to a halt by her house. Crime scene rushed straight past him and he didn't even blink.

"Jane?" his friend's voice came behind him, but he didn't turn around.

"She's gone," Jane said instead, his eyes glued to where crime scene was sweeping the place.

"We'll find her," Cho tried to comfort him, but of course those words did nothing to calm him down.

The worst possible scenarios were floating through his head right now. And the worst one: what if the next time he saw her she was dead?


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Not my favorite chapter, but I needed to post this now since I'm behind on my schedule! I hope you like it!**

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Chapter 5

 _April 10th_

Even if Jane refused to believe she was really dead, they had planned a funeral. Her brothers had helped a lot with the process, or they'd done all of it. Through the mourning, everyone else had excepted that she was gone, that she was dead. But she couldn't be. There was something there that didn't make sense. Like why go through all that trouble of melting the body in acid if you're going to leave behind DNA anyways? To get rid of traces of the killer, yes, but he'd made her completely unrecognizable. To a point where he suspected that the body wasn't even Lisbon. Perhaps his subconscious just needed an ounce of hope to cling onto.

Looking himself in the mirror, he fixed his tie and patted his suit jacket down. This briefly reminded reminded him of his wedding. The same year they married he also had to bury her. No, not her. Someone else who wouldn't get a real funeral with all of their friends and family. Instead that someone was getting a funeral where everyone would share stories about a successful FBI agent, a loving wife and sister. Out there, people were possibly looking for their own wife, their daughter, family member and they'd never know that she had already been found and was about to be buried as Teresa Lisbon.

There had been other murders like this one. A body completely dissolved in acid, except for the small piece of DNA that allowed them to successfully identify the body. Those women had also been reported missing one week earlier. With the lack of body no one had been able to tell what exactly had happened during that week. There was also no evidence that could tell them who the killer was. The acid killer, as the media had called him, was a ghost.

"Jane, it's time," a voice startled him. He definitely wasn't ready for this, but as soon as all of this was over he could focus on finding her.

"Coming," he sighed and followed Lisbon's oldest brother out to the car.

The drive to the church was made in complete silence, both of them finding it hard to speak. Jane had prepared a speech for the funeral, a bunch of anecdotes that would explain what kind of person his wife was. It would feel weird to talk about her as if she was dead when he believed she wasn't, but he couldn't tell anyone what he thought. Of course he had discussed this with Cho and Abbott, but they just thought he was in the first stage of grieving, denial.

The blonde stepped out of the car as it stopped in the church parking lot. The magnificent building had already begun to fill up and Jane was kind of surprised she had this many friends, but looking at the uniforms he knew that most of them were probably paying their respects as a fellow officer. They didn't know her personally.

They should've been out there, looking for where she really was instead of this make-believe funeral.

The seats at the front where is served for her close to family and friends and that's where jeans are down, his speech now closed tightly in his hands.

Seeing the casket surrounded by all of those flowers made this all feel so real and his heart was aching. When he buried his last wife and daughter everything _was_ real, he'd seen their bodies. This time only hope had kept him from completely breaking down. A tear trickled down his cheek and he exhaled a shaky breath as the first hymn started playing. What if he was wrong and he really was about to bury his Lisbon.

Wiping away the tears, he tried to sing along, but the lyrics in his hand were soon becoming blurry.

Dammit Jane! He cursed himself. She's not dead. She's not dead. She's not dead.

One of the brothers walked up next to the casket and put a hand to it before he spoke.

"Rees was an amazing bigger sister." Is. She's not dead, Jane added in his head. "She always took care of us. I remember one time when I had broken one of dad's favorite cups. He was furious, but Teresa told him she was the one who broke it. She always did that. Protected us. I will miss you so much, big sis. I hope we meet again in heaven."

She's not dead. Jane wanted to scream for everyone to hear, but he couldn't make a scene when everyone else was mourning, even if they didn't have to mourn her.

Tommy was crying when he stepped down to take his seat again. One of Lisbon's favorite songs started playing and people around him were crying. Van Pelt and Rigsby sat across the aisle and both were wiping their eyes with their tissues, even after he had revealed what he suspected, which he did after the FBI agents had told him he was crazy. She's not dead.

The music came to an end and it was time for him to talk about what a wonderful person Lisbon was. Or is.

"Teresa Lisbon is…" Because she truly wasn't dead. "…The most extraordinary woman I know. She cares so much about the people around her and loves her job." He paused for a second, looking out over the crowd. This felt stupid. She's not dead. Jane folded his piece of paper and shook his head. "I just hope that wherever she is, she's okay. And I hope to see her soon. I will. I love you with all my heart and I can't imagine spending one more minute without you." He had to turn to the picture with her smiling face and he could almost feel like he was talking to her.

Jane didn't miss the worried looks he got from everyone as he left the altar and returned to his seat. Thinking about his speech, his words might as well have been his way of telling people he was about to commit suicide.

He wasn't though.

Because Teresa Lisbon was not dead.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N I miss when I first started writing fanfictions and I was very quick with all the updates and didn't care as much. But now I'm always nervous and never satisfied. I'm scared of mean reviews because as I'm older I know how people can act on the internet. However, I want to thank each and every one of you for all your kind words! it really means a lot to me! I've also had a very twisted mind in fanfics and have a habit of hurting the characters a lot, which also makes me worried now that people don't want to read that.**

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Chapter 6

March, 21st

There was a lot to process after breakfast was over. The women she had met were all timid and would barely look anyone in the eyes, except for the oldest one, Elizabeth. She had also been the most talkative of them, answering all the questions Lisbon was asking, or at least tried to. Some she didn't know.

The woman had been there for 15 years, stolen from her family and forced to play house. Just like with Lisbon, her room had been the exact copy of her bedroom at home, down to every little detail. During her time in the Dollhouse she had given birth to five children, the oldest was 14 and the first girl Lisbon had met. They had all different chores too. Except for bringing the kids into this world they were in charge of the cleaning, cooking, teaching, and extra activities.

During her time outside of the room she had tried to take a look around as much as she could and the place seemed big, a warehouse perhaps? Their captor must've had a job that payed really well to keep this going. Just to build this must've cost a fortune.

Why was he doing this though? She knew she might get a better understanding of that when she met him later.

The fact that she could suffer the same fate as these other women was something she didn't want to think about, or she'd definitely go crazy.

She and Jane had planned to start a family and wanted to have children together, as soon as he finished the house. Lisbon would not let Jane down. This creep wouldn't get anywhere near her. She would fight him off until he got tired of trying. Hopefully that wouldn't be her death.

The sun that had woken her earlier wasn't a sun, she had also figured out. There was a big spotlight that shone through the small window in the morning just to wake them up. Nothing was real. This might've looked like her room, but it was a prison and so far she didn't know how to get out of there.

One idea that had come to mind was to gather all the women and take him down together. They outnumbered him after all. Only problem was that these women looked so scared and traumatized that Lisbon wasn't sure they could handle it. Elizabeth probably could, but would only the two of them be able to take him down? Well, Lisbon was a trained FBI-agent. Tonight she would see how big of a guy he was before making her plans of how to get out of this hellhole because if someone could do it, she could.

When she'd come back to her room, she had explored all the ways to escape. The window was barred and the door was always locked, but since the person who had the key was a kid, getting the door unlocked could be rather easy. Either persuade the girl to let her out at a certain time or steal the key. As long as she didn't put the kid in danger.

A new dress had been delivered to her with a note telling her to wear it tonight on their "date", as he referred to it. This wasn't a date of course, but she still chose to put the dress on, just to do some investigating. The red fabric clung to her body, hugging every curve and her cleavage left little to imagination, making her very uncomfortable. She didn't put more effort than that. No make up, no curls in her hair, nothing else that would give him satisfaction. She even chose to put on a jacket that would hide her cleavage as much as possible and would refuse to take it off.

This time the door unlocked without knocking first which startled Lisbon and she cursed herself for being so jumpy.

But this time the teenager wasn't standing by the door. A tall man with broad shoulders stood there and any other day she would've called him handsome. His hair was dark and eyes almost black. The jaw line was sharp, his cheekbones distinguished, a good fit for a model. Perhaps he was because in a way he looked very familiar. The man looked strong, like he could easily snap her neck, and actually not how she had imagined him.

"It's time for our date," he said and seemed to look her up and down. It wasn't the first time since she got there, but definitely the most uncomfortable. "Sarah will teach you how to look for next time."

There wouldn't be a next time, creep, she wanted to yell at him, but she kept herself calm and probably told him exactly how she felt with her eyes. She kept her head high and posture straight, not wanting to appear submissive which was exactly how he wanted her. The other girls were molded into exactly that.

"I'm ready," she said and walked right past him out the door. She didn't miss the sharp intake of breath when she got close to him.

At the first glimpse of him, she couldn't fathom how a man like that felt the need to trap women and make them carry his children. This was a man who was hungry for control and he was smart. How else could he have kept women here for 15 years without anyone finding them. Though, the children were still a mystery to her. Perhaps they were an accident or they were simply another way of controlling the women, a reason to why they hadn't done anything to escape. If you try anything I'll kill your kid. Of course Lisbon didn't know how hard they'd already tried to get out of there.

"This way," his dark voice almost echoed through the corridor.

They didn't walk to the dining hall this time. Instead they took a right when they entered the living room and walked through another door she had previously wondered about, as a potential exit. It wasn't though.

On the other side of this door stood a smaller table, covered by a white tablecloth and set for two people. The room would've been pitch black if it wasn't for the candles at the center of the table, shining a bright light around it. If Jane would've set up a room like this for her she would've called it romantic, but this was far from. Lisbon froze in the doorway and couldn't help but to think about the last date Jane had taken her on.

 _His hands covered her eyes when they exited her car. Jane had told her to keep them closed when they got into the vehicle earlier and no matter how much she'd wanted to peek, she'd obeyed him so she wouldn't ruin his surprise he'd worked so hard on._

" _Almost there," he whispered into her ear, urging her forward. His breath against her skin made her stomach tingle and she smiled widely. Lisbon didn't like to let go of her control, but for him she would do anything._

 _Walking without sight was scary, but she trusted him with all her heart. The big smile on her lips told him just how little she worried about being in that situation._

" _Be careful where you walk, this trail is quite bumpy," he warned her and she slowed her steps slightly, feeling with her feet where she was going. "I'll catch you if you fall."_

 _Lisbon couldn't help but to chuckle at that. "Oh, I know you will." It was meant to sound as threatening as it did and left an 'or else' un said._

 _They didn't walk much further before coming to a complete stop. Slowly his hands disappeared from her eyes, finally allowing her to see what was in front of her._

 _She had already figured out that they were in a forest, the explosion of smells and the uneven ground had told her so. But the place where they just stopped was absolutely breathtaking. In the middle of a meadow a blanket was placed and next to it a basket, probably containing their dinner this evening. Around the set up he had placed a bunch of electrical candles and looking back, the trail had also been lit up by them._

" _Wow," she finally sighed and turned to his proud face. He knew that deep down she really was a hopeless romantic._

" _Come on," he said and took her hand, almost dragging her over to the blanket._

 _The couple sat down and the blond was quick to fish out a bottle and two glasses from the basket. Handing her one, he filled them both with white wine, her favorite._

" _This is perfect," she smiled at him and leaned forward to peck his lips._

"I said, please take a seat," the man apparently repeated and shoved her forward interrupting her beautiful memory. That had been their last date, before she got taken away, and they'd made love on the blanket too. Was that really a week ago? Everything was different then. Now she could give anything to be back in his arms. Though perhaps coming here was a blessing because before they had no idea this was even going on. Now that she was here she could get them all out and she had people on the outside who would keep looking until they found her.

Her legs finally started working again and she moved toward the table, sitting down slowly. The man followed her and sat opposite her. He poured some red wine into her glass and she followed his every movement with her eyes, prepared for anything he might do.

"Why am I here?" She decided to ask. The dark-haired man seemed surprised, as if that question wasn't a reasonable one to ask.

"Because you're chosen," he said simply because to him the question was stupid and the answer obvious.

"Chosen?" She repeated, trying not to laugh at how ridiculous that sounded. She wasn't exactly Buffy the vampire slayer. "How am I chosen? What the hell does that mean?"

"I wanted you to be a part of this family. I thought you'd fit right in."

"This isn't a family. You're keeping these people against their will. It's called kidnapping and you could..."

"I knew taking an FBI-agent would be challenging, but you were just so beautiful. And you will adjust to life here, just like the others have."

"You're delusional," she said, shaking her head, not knowing if she should laugh or cry. Lisbon couldn't understand this guy. By the way he talked, she would've guessed that he was in fact crazy, in a world of his own where he really believed he was just starting a family, but then there was that thing in his eyes that told her that everything was an act. He knew exactly what he was doing and just liked the idea of having power over all these women. The agent in her wished for the former option though, because he would be easier to manipulate and take down.

Those eyes seemed to darken and Jane's voice in her head told her to keep calm, to not make him mad. Play along. Let him think he's in control. Pretending would be hard when all she wanted was to beat him to a bloody pulp, but during her years at the CBI and FBI she'd done plenty of acting, her favorite being the mental breakdown. The man's right fist was clenched in front of him on the table, almost turning his knuckles white.

"You should drink some of that wine," he ignored her comment and took a sip from his own glass. If she hadn't seen him pour some wine into both classes she would've been skeptical to drink, afraid of whatever drug he might've put in there. Of course there was still a chance the drug had already been planted into the glass. Moving the glass to her nose, she inhaled the sweet smell and looked down at the liquid.

"Don't worry, I haven't done anything to it. I don't really like my dates unconscious."

Lisbon actually believed him and took a small sip, closing her eyes for a moment. This was exactly what she needed to make it through this night.

"So..." she hummed while putting down her glass. "What do you do?"

His eyebrows rose in what looked like surprise. Was her questions really that unpredictable. "I'm surprised you don't know."

"I'm not a psychic," she scoffed and leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, you're most certainly not. There's no such thing as psychics, right?" This time Lisbon was the one who looked surprised. Her husband always said that and by the look on the other man's face, he must've known that. "I'm a lawyer. In fact, I was once a prosecutor on a case you had to testify on. That's where I found you and I knew you were perfect."

That's why she recognized him. He didn't just have a common face, they had actually talked.

"You defended the man who shot and killed five strippers." She could finally place his face with a memory, the way he'd tried to make her testimony less credible by attacking her character, digging up things from her past. In the end she had won and the murderer was found guilty, but she had still felt like crap afterwards.

"You gave me quite the fight and I must say I enjoyed our banter," he said and for the first time she saw the corners of his lips turn upwards, resembling a smile.

That case must've been over six months ago which meant he'd had his eyes on her without her knowing about it for that long. How could that have happened? She was an FBI agent and should've noticed something before. Well, she had noticed some things, but decided that she was just tired after a long case every time. Like piece of clothings or jewelry she couldn't find and the window being open when she got home or the one time she was certain she'd made the bed in the morning, but it'd been messy when she got home. Everything had been brushed off and she hadn't told anyone, afraid that they'd make her take up som vacation time.

"How did you get into my house?" She wanted to know.

"Oh, that wasn't too hard," he shrugged and turned his head when one of the women from earlier entered the room, carrying two plates of rib eye steak with potato gratin and some kind of sauce. The food looked and smelled delicious, and her stomach rumbled in agreement.

"Thank you, Sarah," he nodded and kept his dark on her, following every movement as she put the two plates down on the table. As what looked like a routine she bent down and gave him a kiss. The woman almost looked like a robot, doing exactly what she had been trained to do.

"Have a nice evening, master," the woman said, her voice squeaky.

The nickname almost made Lisbon gag. There was no chance in hell she was going to call him that or give him a kiss. They would all be out of there before any of that could happen.

"No need to be jealous, Teresa. I have enough love for all of you."

The man must've mistaken her frowning for jealousy, as if she wanted that too, or he was just really trying to get under her skin, which unfortunately worked.

"I'm good," she mumbled. "I'm already married."

He scoffed as he cut through his steak and put the piece of meat into his mouth.

"You mean to that Patrick Jane guy? You deserve a lot better than him. The best you can do now is forget about him."

According to him, she would never get to see her husband again, but he seriously underestimated her. She wasn't going to be like the other women and be here for fifteen years.

"You can't keep me here against my will," she said casually as if they were having a conversation about the weather.

The laughter as a response was very unexpected and forced her to look up from her savory meal, her eyes meeting his amused ones.

"Actually I can. There's no way to break out of here, Teresa. Ask Elizabeth. She's learned the hard way that there's no use in fighting back. One way or another I will get what I want. "

His words send a chill down her spine and she quickly looked away from his stare that now seem to undress her.

Lisbon chose to remain silent and concentrate on finishing her dinner instead to get out of there as quickly as possible.

"Cat got your tongue?" He chuckled and shook his head in amusement. The agent didn't answer though. "Fine you don't have to talk to me." Still she kept quiet, barely swallowing before putting the next piece into her mouth. "I know this is our first date, but I feel like I already know you." Of course he did. He had been following her for months. Lisbon didn't say this out loud, though. There wasn't much left on her plate and then she could go back to her room. "I want you to have my next baby. I want us to begin that process tonight."

Lisbon coughed, almost choking on her dinner. No. No, no, no, no. That did not give her enough time to get out of there before anything happened. Though, she wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Ah, finally got your attention," he said with a smirk that could surely give her nightmares.

"Don't you have enough kids?" She muttered, putting down her utensils. Suddenly she had lost her appetite.

The older man's eyes shone in amusement. "Of course not. Ever since I was a kid I wanted a big family. This just seems like I'm natural path to take."

"And you couldn't just get married and have kids like normal people?" She almost added that he was a good looking guy, but she would never give him that satisfaction.

"A lot less efficient," he hummed and stared at her for a long time, again making her skin crawl. "Why don't we finish dinner and go to your room for some dessert?"

No! She screamed in her head.

"I'm craving some ice cream right now so I'd rather stay here," she said, trying to keep her voice strong. Jane would have seen through her facade and known exactly what she was thinking, how her brain was going crazy trying to come up with an escape plan. It was funny how she'd a minute ago done everything to get through this dinner and now she didn't want to go back to her room.

"Nonsense," he actually laughed, throwing his napkin on his plate and standing up. "I've watched you and I can see how badly you want to go back to your room." A hand reached out for her to take, but she just stared at it.

She stood up without touching him and wrapped her arms around her body, self-consciously. Perhaps she could beat him unconscious and while he was out find her escape. He looked strong, but so was she.

The women they passed in the living room seemed to know exactly what was going on, what he was about to do. They had all been through it after all. And now they tried hard to not look up at them.

His steps were determined, like a man on a mission, and she toyed with the idea of pretending to sprain her ankle to make him stop, to keep him from going on. Or perhaps she could faint, he didn't like his women unconscious.

Too soon they stopped outside of her room and she watched closely as the older man unlocked the door with his key, following his hand as he put it down in the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

"After you, Teresa," he said when he opened the door and she stepped just inside of the door before stopping and turning around to face him. She didn't say anything, but her eyes dared him to follow her inside, saying just what she would do if he so much as touched her. "Oh, Teresa."

One hand was shoved down the pocket of his pants while the other one touched her shoulder, squeezing it hard. That was all it took to unleash the demon within her. Her fist clenched as she swung it forward, hitting his jaw perfectly, and her knee went up toward his groin with the same power she would've used to take down any criminal. Before she got a perfect shot, though, a sharp pain to her neck set her whole body on fire. The burning feeling spread from neck, to arms, to legs and to he head, making it impossible to control her body. She let out tiny gasps as she staggered back toward her bed, wanting to land on something soft as she went down. Electricity. That's what this was, she realized, and the source of this excruciated feeling? Her necklace.

"You thought it was that easy?" The laughter was dark as he came closer to her, kneeling in front of her shaking body. She found it harder to breathe and she tried to rip off the cause of all this. "Such a shame really." His free hand that wasn't holding the remote control moved over her body, his hand making her burn even more. Everything hurt. "I've wanted to touch you ever since we met. I guess I can wait one more night."

The remote was put back into his pocket and the electricity stopped. He slowly leaned forward and pecked her lips, taking a step back. "Sleep tight." He whispered and when the darkness finally took over, she welcomed it.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N I want to thank every single one of you for your reviews! You're all amazing! I'm actually almost done with the next chapter too. Recently I've gotten all kinds of ideas for stories. I always wanted to write something with Volker, but until then I'll just mention him in this.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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Chapter 7

 _April_ _10th_

Cho was worried about Jane. He had already known that if something were to happen to Lisbon, Jane would fall apart. That's why he had previously tried to protect her by preventing her from doing her job. His speech at the funeral had confused many, most of them probably thinking that he was going to take his own life. But Cho knew what the man meant, that he still believed that Lisbon wasn't dead. Of course, Cho wanted to believe him because he wanted Lisbon to be alive just as much, and Jane's instincts were usually right. Except when the case was too personal. He spent so many years trying to catch his first wife and daughter's killer and many times his judgment had been clouded. All the evidence they'd gathered told them that Lisbon was dead. Not only had they found DNA in the barrel, but they'd also found traces of her blood close by, something they hadn't wanted to discuss with Jane. He didn't need to know about the torture Lisbon might've endured the week between her disappearance and when her body was found. Of course, Jane would probably kill them if he realized they'd hidden this from him.

Though none of what they found had brought them closer to finding her killer. He was just a ghost. They'd been rounding up all the criminals she had put behind bars, Tommy Volker high on that list, but if this was connected to the previous killings none of this made sense. There weren't many, but the first one was a cold case dated back a decade. Of course there was a possibility that they weren't at all connected, but they were just too similar.

The team had still checked for connections between the more recent murders and Tommy Volker and checked all the contact the man had had with the outside world. He did have power after all and a lot of people who did the dirty work for him. Plus, he wouldn't have gone to prison if Lisbon hadn't been so determined to take him down.

When they visited him in prison, he had seemed genuinely surprised to hear she was dead. Surprised, but happy. Thouogh, Volker's acting skills had kept him out of prison for years before Lisbon happened. Even if Cho knew Volker was a dead end, he still wanted to keep that window open.

Checking Lisbon's credit cards, they had also been able to see where she'd been prior to her abduction since there was a possibility she'd met the killer in one of those places. Perhaps he worked in her favorite coffee shop or where she did her usual grocery shopping. Though, the whole thing felt like grasping at straws. In fact, Lisbon could've met her killer anywhere at anytime. They might not even have met in person; Lisbon had been in the public eye plenty of times with press conferences or just in the background of news coverages. Everywhere they looked they always seemed to reach a dead end. The team didn't want to fail their colleague and friend, but without any leads, this was impossible.

Cho parked his car in front of the small house Jane had been working on prior to his wife's death. The man had left so quickly from the wake and Cho knew he needed to check up on his friend, just so he wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Jane?" He called out as he knocked on the door. The last time Cho had been there was at Lisbon and Jane's wedding, and since then Jane had really gotten some work done, just like he said he would. The agent knew this house was the reason he'd been absent from work, but he'd never imagined Jane knew how to remodel a house.

"Yeah!" A voice inside called and Cho took that as permission to enter.

The agent knew that Jane believed his wife was still alive and got easily obsessed with seeking the answers so he shouldn't have been surprised by the wall of web Jane had put up. There were newspaper articles, maps, a pool of suspects, information about previous victims and red threads tying the different elements together.

"You've kept yourself busy," Cho commented, studying the wall.

"Someone has to keep looking," Jane replied casually and took a step away from his work, back still turned to Cho. "I was thinking about the coffee. Crime techs said that the cup of coffee that morning had been drugged and that's how he got her out of there..."

"Yeah, but that didn't get us anywhere..." Cho pointed out and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Which means he would've had to get into her house that morning after she made her coffee and slip something in, without her hearing a thing, which is strange, isn't it? So I had the lab run som tests on the coffee still in the package."

Cho raised his eyebrows at the other man. Only Jane could've come up with something like that. "And? Did they find anything?"

"As a matter of fact they did," Jane said, unusually happy for a person who just buried his wife. "Which means he could've put something in it long before. The package had just been opened too. He would've had this past week to accomplish this, but I think he's been doing this for a while actually."

"Why do you say that?" Cho wasn't entirely convinced, but he had to say he was curious where Jane was going with this. He was trying so hard to see something that wasn't there, to explain why his wife was still alive.

"There was no sign of a break-in so he must've had a key because she wouldn't just let a stranger into her house, unless she was getting something repaired or something, which she wasn't... who knows how many times he's been in her house. It's all classic stalker behavior," Jane turned to Cho for the first time since he started his story. "Killing after just one week does not fit in with this. He's already gone to so much trouble to capture her, to study her routine. He still has her locked up somewhere and I'm gonna find her, with or without your help."

Cho looked at him for a moment and then to the wall. Perhaps Jane's instincts were correct after all and the team stopped looking for her. There was still a tiny chance that she was locked up somewhere with a psychopath.

With a sigh, Cho stood straight and gave him a quick nod. "Alright, let's say she's still alive, how do we find her? "

For the first time since Cho got there uncertainty flashed through Jane's eyes.

"I've retraced her steps this last month," he said, quieter than before. "All these red pins…" He pointed to the map. "I've also written down the names of everyone she met during this time and… eh… At least the ones where I was present. I haven't been around… "

"If what you're saying is correct he would've gotten to her even if you were around more. He'd wait until she was alone or he'd take you out too," Cho tried to reason with him.

"But we'd have more to go on. Maybe I could've noticed something she didn't."

"Have you talked to the other victims' families yet?" Cho wondered, stepping in front of the pictures of four other women who had supposedly died exactly like Lisbon.

Jane shook his head. "Not yet." He had planned on it, but he didn't want to give their families hope of their loved ones being alive. Chances were that their kidnapper got rid of the old girl as soon as he found a new one.

"I'll get the team together and we'll question them. If he stalked them too, they might've noticed something we didn't and told someone about it. Even if Lisbon had seen something she probably wouldn't have told us in case it was nothing."

"Yeah, she wouldn't want us to worry… She's stubborn that way," Jane sighed and stared at the picture of his wife. "We need to find her. She's already been missing for weeks."

"We will," Cho told him. Only fifteen minutes ago he had believed his friend and colleague was dead, but everything Jane said actually made sense. Hopefully the rest of the team would also be on board with this because if Lisbon was out there somewhere, they all needed to work together to bring her home.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Again, thank you for reading this and I'm so happy some of you are taking your time to review this! I've been writing like crazy lately and I'm currently on the 11th chapter in my notebook, which never happens. Though, sometimes I don't even know what I'm writing. In this chapter you will get a new POV which I loved writing. Also, if you haven't noticed, I'm jumping around a lot in time, like the funeral and Jane's investigation is like two weeks ahead of Lisbon. But I always write the dates.**

 **Last thing, did anyone else see the first episode of the Fix? I'm so excited to see Robin in a new show!**

 **Well enjoy! And if you have any ideas/requests/anything feel free to tell me! I'm always open for suggestions.**

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Chapter 8

 _March 22_

The room was completely dark when she awoke. Slowly she sat up, grimacing at the stiffness in her body. She remembered the excruciating pain she had been in the night before, but now only her muscles ached from sleeping in an uncomfortable position. Lisbon stood up on shaky legs and staggered forward to the bathroom, a hand massaging her neck.

This explained why the other women hadn't managed to escape escape yet and unless she managed to get this thing off, chances of her escaping was a whole lot smaller. How many times would she have to suffer through the electricity before she also gave up fighting and let him do whatever he wanted to her. Just the mere thought made her shudder in disgust. No chance in hell.

Lisbon stopped in front of the mirror and frowned at her own reflection. Her hair was a tangly mess and the necklace had left some marks on her neck. They were small, but still a reminder of what had happened last night and what refusing him would mean. Though she could handle the pain.

Reaching behind her neck she tried to unclasp the necklace, but she already knew this wasn't an ordinary piece of jewelry. To get this one off she would need a special magnet, something only the most expensive necklaces required.

"Of course," she sighed to herself. She already knew she wouldn't find anything in here that could break the chain, the kitchen might be a safer bet. Getting out of there felt so much harder now, but nothing was impossible. Either she'd break out of this chain or she'd make sure he didn't have his remote. One way or another, her time here was going to be short lived.

Escaping would have to wait until tomorrow because she was still exhausted. Lisbon backed away from the mirror and with steadier steps than before she walked back to her bed, crawling under her covers, not bothering to change out of her dress.

—

 _March 28_

Teresa Lisbon. She was a perfect addition to his collection, especially now that Elizabeth had gotten older and to be frank, he'd had her for so long that he was beginning to grow tired of her. So far he didn't have any plans to get rid of her, she was still a great help with the kids and an amazing cook. Yes, she was still useful.

This time he'd wanted a challenge, though, and Teresa Lisbon was the woman he'd been looking for. Just the way she spoke with authority, the confidence radiating from her. She sounded so sure of herself and her testimony had actually won the case. No matter how much dirt he'd dug up on her she always managed to shoot him down. This woman took no crap and he would certainly enjoy breaking her, even if it would take weeks. The woman had rejected his every past, as expected, and he'd been forced to use the necklace against her, which he quite enjoyed. Her moans was like music to his ears. She still believed that there was a way out of here or that her precious husband would come rescue her, her knight in shining armor. The thought made him laugh.

Too bad he believed she was dead. He'd arranged that yesterday and this morning the story of the murdered FBI-agent was plastered on the front page of every newspaper. Showing the women the news of their dead bodies was his favorite part of all of this, second to the sex of course. He just loved seeing the hope drain from their faces. Before they all thought someone was out there looking for them, but with them dead the matter wasn't as urgent anymore. Sure, they would still be looking for him, he expected that much, but he was too smart to get caught. The fact that there weren't that many bodies, and that they were killed years apart didn't exactly scream serial killer. He'd give it a month before they dropped the investigation.

Taking one last sip from his scotch, he grabbed today's newspaper and walked out of his room. The kids were playing all over the living room and he smiled at them as he passed. Sometimes he'd have to admit that there were too many of them. The first ones were only means to control his girls, to make sure they didn't try to escape. His work would be seriously disturbed if he had to go around and worry that one of them would against all odds break out of there. The place was like Fort Knox, he'd made sure of that, but he would never underestimate a human's will to be free. The kids served that purpose well.

Stopping in front of Teresa Lisbon's door, he opened it without any notice. This time she wasn't as startled by him as she been the past couple of times. She didn't even turn around to greet him which annoyed him, but he just added it to the list of things he needed to teach her. Even if she still wasn't broken, he could tell she was getting physically weaker, the pain he put her through every night after she tried to take him down doing wonders.

"I have some news," he finally spoke after studying her still form for a minute. Though, he didn't get a reaction from the former agent. "I said, I have some news."

"I heard you. No need to yell," came her uninterested reply.

"Then why didn't you answer me?"

"You didn't ask a question," she said and he could've sworn she was rolling her eyes at him, even if he couldn't see her face.

His free hand clenched into a fist as he tried to control his anger. Sometimes he just wanted to beat the living daylights out of her, just so she'd learn her place, but he didn't want to accidentally kill her.

"I thought you'd be interested in today's newspaper," he hummed and approached her, standing to face her.

"Is that so?" she asked, dryly.

"Sure is," he said and when she stubbornly refused to look at him he continued. "I mean your face is on the front page."

At those words her face turned to him, eyes glancing to the paper. He handed it to her and watched gleefully as her face went even paler than it already was. Her eyes frantically scanned over the page and just like with all the others there was an air of hopelessness around her.

"I'm dead." The words were almost inaudible, but he caught them.

"It's for the best," he said. Hiding his smile was becoming increasingly hard. "You've been so distracted and half your heart has been in Austin. Now you can focus all of your energy on being here and helping me."

The woman didn't say anything, just seemed to be reading the piece of paper over and over again. Finally he decided to rip it out of her hands, tired of being ignored.

"Now I've been patient with you, but we both know what I want and it's going to happen no matter how much you fight me."

His hand ran through her thick, dark hair and when he again failed to get the attention he craved his hand gripped her chin hard, earning him the most delicious moan.

"It's time you give me exactly what I want."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N I've been meaning to post this two days in a row but always managed to fall asleep... This time I chose to do it before I became too tired! Enjoy!**

 **—**

Chapter 9

 _April 10_

The team didn't think he was a crazy, grieving husband anymore. After his briefing they had all agreed to help him look for Lisbon, but they wouldn't let the rest of the world know. For one, they couldn't be 100% sure she was actually out there, even if Jane refused to believe otherwise, and secondly, who knew what the kidnapper would do if he knew someone was still out there looking for her. He might actually kill her for real.

Jane was going with Cho to talk to the family of one Sarah Johnson who was found dead a little over a year ago. The detectives who'd worked on her case had already questioned the family back when her body was supposedly discovered, but they hadn't suspected what they did now and therefore didn't ask the right questions.

The GPS led them to a yellow suburban house with a white picket fence and Jane was out of the car before Cho had come to a complete stop. Time was of the essence here. By the time Cho caught up to him, he had already rung the doorbell. An older woman opened the door only seconds later.

"Yes?" She said, eyes moving between the two men.

"I'm Agent Cho and this is Patrick Jane and we're with the FBI. We would like to ask you some questions about your daughter."

The woman's face fell at the mention of her lost family member. "I told the police everything a year ago. I don't want to sit through all of this again. My daughter is dead and that won't change."

"We're very sorry to disturb you, but we believe that whoever killed your daughter, has also taken my wife," Jane said, hoping the woman would recognize his pain.

"But we don't know anything," the woman persisted. "Our Sarah didn't have any enemies or a boyfriend."

"You might know something you don't think is important. We believe that this guy follows his victims a while before kidnapping them."

They could see on her face that this was a new piece of information.

"Look, this happened a long time ago, how am I supposed to remember? I told those detectives that I hadn't noticed anything suspicious before she was taken."

"Perhaps not around her abduction, but he would've watched her for longer:"

The woman was quiet for a couple of seconds before she opened the door wider. "Why don't you come in."

This was definitely a step in the right direction. "Thank you," Jane said and stepped inside together with Cho, immediately scanning his surroundings to get a read on these people.

Like any family home, the shelves held various photos of vacations, graduations and wedding pictures. Above the fireplace stood a photograph of Sarah between two candlesticks. They were still lighting a candle for their deceased daughter.

"Would you like anything to drink?" She wondered as she led them to the couch in the living room.

"No, thanks," Cho said quickly, wanting to get straight to business.

"I could use a cup of tea," Jane told her as he studied more pictures on the wall.

"I'll be right back," she excused herself and left for the kitchen.

"See anything of interest?" Cho asked as soon as they were alone.

"Nah, seems like an ordinary family. They all look genuinely happy in the family photos, the smiles reach their eyes." He could hear the sound of the tea kettle from the kitchen as reached the more work related pictures. "Your husband's a judge?" He called to the kitchen, staring at an image of the husband holding a diploma, standing between three other men who wore almost matching suits.

"Oh yes," the woman chuckled tiredly as she walked back into the room, holding two cups of tea. Her eyes found where his attention was. "Ah, that's Tom and his colleagues back then. There was a big celebration the day he got his diploma."

Jane hummed and turned toward the woman who was now sitting across from Cho, two cups of tea on the table.

"My Sarah was a very paranoid girl," she started and when Jane realized she was going to tell them everything she knew, he sat down too, grabbing his tea. "About six months before she was abducted she was positive someone had been to her apartment."

"Why did she think that?" Cho wanted to know.

"Things went missing and a window was left open. She was so sure she hadn't left it like that."

"And did she report it?" Cho wondered.

The woman scratched the back of her neck. "Tom knew it wouldn't go anywhere. Sarah probably had a lot of on her mind and forgot where she put her things. But we decided to change the locks anyways, just in case."

Cho and Jane exchanged a quick glance. "Did you tell the other detectives about this?" Cho asked. They couldn't remember reading anything about this in the previous reports.

"We didn't think it was connected to... I mean it happened months before she was gone and nothing else happened after that incident. It was just nothing."

"It might not have been," Jane said, taking a small sip from his tea, carefully not to burn himself. "Did your daughter suspect anyone for the break-in?"

Sarah's mother shook her head. "No, my husband convinced her that it was probably just some kids. Are you saying that Sarah was right? That her killer had been to her apartment?"

"Yes, that's what we're saying," Cho said, bluntly.

"Oh God." The woman buried her face in her hands, letting out a sob.

Jane felt terrible for opening this wound and making her relive losing her daughter, but they had actually made some progress after all. They hadn't gotten closer to who had committed the crimes, but now they knew that Lisbon could've been followed for even longer which would expand their pool of suspects.

"Mrs. Johnsson, thank you for your time. You've been really helpful." Cho stood up and Jane followed his moves.

"I hope you find your wife before she ends up like my Sarah," she said in a small, shaky voice.

"Thank you." Jane put a hand on the woman's shoulder and squeezed it softly. He would look forward to bringing her daughter home together with his wife.

—

 _March 28_

From the moment she got there, Teresa Lisbon had promised herself to stay strong. She would make sure she ate three meals a day, exercised in her room to keep her muscles and activate her mind regularly. Even after the first night she'd suffered through those shocks she'd make sure to regain her strength the next day. Jane's voice kept scolding her whenever her appetite was gone, telling her to push through it. The second evening was the same, she fought him and she passed out after that excruciating pain. Still she made sure to eat the next day, even if her body soon rejected the dinner and made her and all the contents of her stomach. Too much electricity through your body would probably do that to you. The entire week went the same and no matter how much she tried to stay strong, she could feel herself getting weaker. Between his version of shock therapy and throwing up everything she ate, she was getting tired. Jane's voice in her head was always there, though, as a comfort and that made her feel calm, like everything would be okay. Lisbon would get out of there soon, they were on their way. Jane closed cases, that's what he did. This time wouldn't be any different.

The door suddenly opened without a knock and Lisbon stifled a sigh. Her back was to him where she was sitting on the edge of the bed. She had been busy staring into the wall and she wasn't quite finished with that task yet.

The man spoke behind her, but she didn't acknowledge him.

"I said, I have some news," he repeated, this time louder, too loud.

"I heard you the first time. No need to yell," she told him, well aware that the tone of her voice would irritate him.

 _Are you trying to get yourself killed_ , Jane asked in the back of her mind.

 _I'm sorry, I can't help it_ , Lisbon replied to the voice.

"Then why didn't you answer me?"

"You didn't ask a question," she said, rolling her eyes at him, almost disappointed he couldn't see her doing it.

The older man continued to talk about the newspaper and she couldn't be less interested in reading that. She had other things to worry about than whatever is going on out in the world.

That was until he mentioned that she was on the front page. She'd expected the papers to print something about her case, especially since she was an FBI agent. She had not been prepared for what she was now reading. Dead. Reading the article over and over, her whole body filled with dread. If the world thought she was dead, Jane and the team probably did too or they would never have let this become front page news.

"I'm dead," she whispered to herself, the other man's presence completely forgotten about. She blocked out anything he said, her focus completely on the papers in her hand. No one was coming for her because to them she was dead. This guy was even smarter than she'd given him credit for. It was perfect, really. Make everyone believe they're dead and no one will look for them. The police would give up eventually, just another cold case.

 _Do you really think I would give up on you?_ She heard Jane say and she really wanted to believe that he didn't trust the evidence of her death, but the article told her she was dead.

The newspaper was suddenly ripped out of her hands and a strong hand gripped her chin, making a small moan slip through her lips, a mix between surprise and pain. His face was so close to hers as he spoke to her.

Her first instinct was to spit at him which earned her a backhand to her cheek and she was surprised by the force of the blow, the way she flew backwards on the bed. Angrily he wiped away her spit and soon joined her on the bed.

"You never learn," he said through gritted teeth as he started tugging on her clothes. The pain shooting through her face didn't stop her from trying to fight him off. Why wasn't he shocking her? She realized quickly that he wasn't going to use that necklace tonight. This time he wouldn't care that she fought back because, and she was embarrassed to admit it, he could easily overpower her. He knew exactly where she would aim and she didn't get a hit in. Hopefully he would get tired of her thrashing around and just leave, but those eyes looked so determined, like he knew exactly what he wanted and he was going to get it.

And Lisbon was afraid that tonight she would give up.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N Thank you so much for reading and reviewing this story! I appreciate every single one of you!**

 **I hope you will all stick around after this chapter too!**

 **—**

Chapter 10

 _March, 28th_

Pain. He'd left her in so much pain, worse than all of the shock treatments she'd received before. Her entire body was on fire and she had the feeling of being ripped in half. The blows her face, arms, chest, she could handle, but what came next she couldn't even imagine, like an unwanted nightmare that would wake her up with a scream. The pain and stickiness between her legs told her how real this had been.

Lisbon was still naked on the bed, not wanting to move until she was sure he wasn't coming back. After a while she had stopped fighting and started to drift away, but as soon as her eyes closed he would slap her to make sure she didn't pass out, to make her look at him. He took pleasure in seeing her fighting spirit slip alway.

 _You're still alive, that's what matters_ , Jane told her, bringing tears to her eyes.

"I failed," she whispered to the voice, releasing a shaky breath. What kind of FBI-agent couldn't even prevent her own assault?

 _You're not invincible_ , the same voice tried to reason with her. That wouldn't stop her from beating herself up about it, though. She couldn't help but to feel guilty too, like she had betrayed Jane, even if she hadn't wanted any of it. The possibility of her giving birth to a baby who wasn't Jane's made her even more nauseous. Though she had no doubt her husband would love that child as much as he would their own. If she got out of there.

Slowly, she got up from the bed and walked to the bathroom. She didn't care that it was the middle of the night, she needed a shower, to get rid of any trace of him. Lisbon turned the shower on and immediately stepped in under the stream of water, not bothering to wait until it got warm. How many times would you have to endure this before she came up with a way to escape? Now that Jane believed she was dead she was worried that she would never get out of there. Even if they found the man who did this, they would never think about looking for this place and without any food supply they would all starve to death.

 _Do you really think I'd give up on you that easily?_ Jane asked her and she could hear him scoff at the little faith she had in him.

"I'm dead," she told him as she scrubbed her skin raw with the soap.

 _When have I ever trusted evidence?_ He was right. Every time their evidence pointed to a suspect Jane had gone against them and used other methods to catch the killer. There was no way Jane would believe she was dead if he couldn't look at her dead body. With Jane on the case, she'd be out of there in no time.

The now scolding hot water burned her skin as she scrubbed away the past hours. Her inner conversation with Jane had managed to calm her down slightly, and she was filled with hope again. But the voice got quiet and all she was left with was an eery silence. Knowing about the cameras she hadn't wanted to turn on the lights either because she already felt violated enough. Lisbon actually had no idea what he did when he wasn't with her. Of course she knew he was a lawyer so he had to be at work during the days, which explained his absence at daytime. Other than that, she wasn't sure. This past week, though, he'd spent too much time with her. How much time was he spending with the other women? Did he sleep in this building too? Or did he live somewhere else? In a normal house? She couldn't really picture him living a normal life outside of these walls.

Lisbon had learned her first night there that she wouldn't be able to manipulate him to get what she wanted, he was too clever for that and knew exactly what he was doing. The idea of appearing weaker than she actually was had crossed her mind several times, but she would feel humiliated and like she was letting people down. Right now he believed that her fighting spirit had started slipping away, but boy was he wrong. It was stronger than ever.

—

 _April, 11th_

The second family hadn't been as willing to help, the father getting angry at them for dragging this up again after five years. There was no way they were going to be of any help so this was more hurtful than helpful, he'd said. Of course Jane knew where he was coming from and would've agreed to leave them alone, if his wife hadn't been out there somewhere.

"The man who killed your Madeleine took my wife. You might remember something you don't think is important," Jane told the man, hoping that those words would resonate with him like they did with Sarah's mother. But he could see the older man wasn't convinced.

"We don't know anything," he repeated and was just about to slam the door in their faces, but Jane shoved his foot in the doorway.

"We only need five minutes. You have nothing to lose." Their daughter was already dead, or they believed she was anyway.

A heavy, annoyed sigh was released as he opened the door for them.

"Five minutes," he said, grumpily. This time they weren't offered anything to drink and the hostility from the man weighed heavy in the house. Jane had a feeling this would lead them nowhere.

Cho sat down on the couch while Jane studied the photographs. Just like the Johnson family, this one also put up a lot of photos, many with the entire family lined up.

"We have a reason to believe that your daughter had been followed for weeks before she went missing. Did she mention anything about things going missing or that someone had been to her apartment?"

The father shook his head. "No, there was nothing out of the ordinary."

"You have a big family," Jane commented, his eyes focused on one of the photos with what appeared to be all the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

"Yes, celebrate every holiday together," he told them and there was a hint of pride in his voice, but it disappeared quickly. "Now would you stop that?"

Jane hummed in response, but didn't look away. There was one picture that had really caught his attention, a face he recognized.

Picking up the framed photograph he approached the older man. "Who's this?" He wondered, pointing at one of the men in the picture.

"That's Brian, my daughter's husband," he said, confused by this sudden change in topic.

"Thank you for your time," Jane shook the man's hand hurriedly. "We need to go."

Cho stood up from his seat, knowing that Jane must've found something of importance if he was in a hurry to leave.

"Put the picture back," the man told him when Jane was still clutching the family photo as they walked to the door.

"Can't. It's evidence."

"Evidence? What does this have to do with my Maddie?"

Jane waved him away like he would a fly and walked straight for the car, leaving a very confused old man.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N I'm so sorry for the wait, but I went to Iceland and wasn't able to post anything. I hope you enjoy this chapter because some questions will be answered!**

 **—**

Chapter 11

Before going back to the make-shift office, Jane had insisted on driving back to Sarah Johnson's parents' house to pick something up. Cho only knew that the person who went by the name Brian was important.

The team gathered by the board in Jane's house to finally go over what he had found. Since they weren't on their colleague's case, protocol when you were too close to the victim, they always met where Jane had first started his own investigation.

"Both the Johnson and the Pierce family were quite generous with photographs," Jane started. "Look at this picture…" He pinned the Pierces' family photo on the board. "And then look at this." He pinned the photo of Judge Johnson with his three colleagues next to the other picture.

"What are we looking at?" Abbot asked and looked between the photos.

"This guy..." he pointed to one of the colleagues. "... and this guy is the same person."

Even if he was sporting a beard in the family photo, there was no mistaking it. They were both Brian Sanders.

"That's our connection between Sarah and Madeleine. Now how do we connect him to Lisbon?" Cho wondered, turning to Wiley who was already by the computer they had set up.

"Running a background check on him right now," Wiley said, his fingers dancing over the keys. "Ah! He's a lawyer, married to Deborah Sanders, one daughter…"

"If he's a lawyer their paths might have crossed," Abbot interrupted. "Could you check the cases Lisbon has testified on or if he's represented anyone she's interrogated?"

"Easy peasy lemon squeezy," Wiley replied in a cheerful tone and once again his fingers hit the keys.

The former team leader turned to the board again, knowing that cross-referencing both their cases would take some time, even if Wiley thought it was as easy as peas and squeezing lemons. Abbot was happy to see that the team had been doing well under Cho's leadership and he knew he'd made the right choice. He'd transferred to D.C and actually enjoyed his new job, even if he missed all the crazy shenanigans that went on while working with Jane. When he'd found out that Lisbon had died he'd been devastated and come back to attend the funeral. After hearing Jane's theory he knew he needed to be a part of this investigation and immediately took out all his vacation days.

"I never would've guessed he'd have a family," Jane said, surprised the thought hadn't even crossed his mind before. "We should talk to his wife."

"Got something," Wiley announced enthusiastically. "Six months ago Lisbon testified on a case where Brian Sanders was the prosecutor. According to the transcript, he was pretty rough with her."

"Then he's our guy," Cho said. "Me and Jane will question the wife. I want you to find out everything there is about this guy and try to see if you can find a connection to the last two women. We have to be discreet because we don't know what he can do if he finds out we're on to him."

What Jane really wanted was to arrest this guy and make him tell them where he kept the women, but Cho was right. They had to be smart about this because a man like that wouldn't give up easily after all these years. Of course they couldn't be 100% sure Brian was their man, but it just couldn't be a coincidence. Jane followed Cho out to the car and jumped inside. _Just hold on, Teresa,_ he thought. _We're almost there._

 _—_

Lisbon sat down on the couch in the living room where some of the kids were playing. So far she hadn't been allowed much contact with the children, other than the one she got during the meals. Thinking of it, she hadn't had much contact with anyone. She hadn't even gotten her chores yet and spent most of her time alone in the room. The man had come to her every single night for a week, thinking she had given up completely and perhaps that's why she wasn't ushered to her room straight after breakfast like she normally would be. He didn't see her as a threat anymore; you could almost say he trusted her.

"What are you playing?" Lisbon whispered to the two girls on the floor in front of her.

"We're playing family," the older of the two answered as she brushed through the doll's hair.

"That sounds like fun," Lisbon beamed, but she still made sure her voice wasn't too loud. "What's your names?"

"I'm Abigail and this is Ella. We're sisters and these are our kids," she said with a bright smile, showing Lisbon the dolls. "We have the same daddy, but not mommy."

Lisbon nodded slowly and glanced behind her to see if any of the other women were looking her way. They probably wouldn't interfere if they saw her talking to the kids, but she wasn't sure what the man could make them do.

"Do you ever go outside to play?" Lisbon wondered. These kids must have been allowed outside at some point since they weren't a danger to him and would never even consider escaping. He couldn't deprive them of actual sunlight, right? If they did go out she could easily give them a message.

Both girls' eyes widened, though, and Lisbon was terrified that she had made a huge mistake with being so forward.

"Are you crazy?" The younger one exclaimed, drawing unwanted attention from the other women.

Lisbon swallowed nervously, but looking behind her she could see that the women were pretending not to pay attention to them. They wouldn't stop whatever they thought she was doing.

"What's wrong with going outside?" She wondered, leaning in closer as if they were sharing secrets.

"We all die," Abigail replied and the agent could see the shudder running through the kid's body.

"We all… die? "Lisbon repeated, hesitantly, afraid that he'd actually threatened them.

"The monsters will eat us like they did with everyone else in the world."

"The monsters?" Lisbon felt stupid just repeating everything the girl said, but she was just so astonished by their answers. Everything they said was so unexpected.

"They're called zombies," Abigail pointed out. "There's an apopa… acopaly…" The girl was struggling to pronounce the word and right now Lisbon didn't know whether to laugh or to cry

"Apocalypse?" Lisbon helped her and the girl nodded.

This was brilliant really. Of course the kids would believe anything and something as scary as zombies would surely keep them from ever wanting to go outside.

"Yes, it's when the world is ending. But we're safe here, they can't come in."

"So… How do you get food?" Lisbon wondered, curiously, deciding to play into this fantasy. For now at least.

"Daddy goes out looking for food every day. He's really brave." Abigail almost sounded proud when saying that as if her father was some kind of hero.

"I see…" she said slowly. "And who told you all of this?"

"We have school," Ella said. "We learn how to read, maths and also about the world. The videos are really scary so I have to close my eyes."

"You've seen videos of these zombies?" Had he taken clips from the Walking dead or some other zombie movie to scare the kids?

There was so much information to take in and she wasn't sure how to burst their bubble and what would happen if she did. The last thing she wanted was to get the kids in trouble.

"Yes, they look really scary. They have no brains so they're not smart, but they are still dangerous. Have you met one?" Ella asked and both girls inched closer, excited to hear a new story.

"Me? Met a zombie?"

"Yes, when you were outside. Before daddy found and rescued you."

Rescued? That's what he was telling the kids to explain her and other women's sudden appearance. It was outrageous and she didn't like the idea of them thinking she was thankful to be there. "I wasn't…"

"Girls, it's time for school now. Go pee and then meet me in the classroom," Madeleine interrupted before Lisbon could let anything slip about the real world. How could these women teach the kids something like this? Okay, they probably didn't have much of a choice in the matter if they wanted to live.

 _Use this against him_ , Jane whispered in her head. _But be careful._

 _What if he hurts them?_ Lisbon wondered, ignoring the commotion around her as the girls cleaned after themselves.

 _When he finds out it will be too late_ , Jane reassured her and Lisbon wanted nothing more than to believe him because that was her best bet right now.

"You shouldn't have talked to them like that," Madeleine whispered to keep anyone who might be listening from hearing.

"Like what? With honesty?" She raised her eyebrows at the other woman.

"He's going to be so mad."

Lisbon shook her head. "He doesn't have to know what we talked about. I just wanted to know why the children doesn't want to go out. There's no reason to get upset."

This was probably the most they had talk to each other since she got there. Elizabeth had done the talking for all of them. Hearing the others speak too could hopefully help Lisbon understand what their mindsets were and if their fear would keep them from fighting back when the time came.

The woman let out a deep sigh. "You're on cleaning duty today. This room, the kitchen and the corridors."

There was no chance in hell they could make Lisbon do all these chores, to play house along with the others.

 _He thinks you're weak, remember?_ Jane reminded her. _If you refuse this he's going to know you've been pretending._

 _And everything I've done would be in vain,_ Lisbon sighed. She knew Jane was right and that she'd have to do the chores just like the others. Today she had made some progress and hopefully she would be out of there before the month was over.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N Sorry once again for the delay but I've been busy with my internship! I don't know what I did with this chapter, but I think I'll have to put a warning before you read this... this is more graphic than before...**

 **—**

Chapter 12

 _April 10th_

Another lash tore the skin open on her back and right now she couldn't remember how many he'd said he would give her. She wasn't quite sure why he was punishing her, but she had her suspicions.

The tenth lash came and a small moan escaped her lips. After the first she had decided she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream. Before he probably would've used the necklace, but that could do more harm towards the baby she figured. If she was pregnant of course, but she couldn't shake the feeling she was.

Eleven. She clenched her eyes shut and gripped the sheets tightly. The blood from the few open gashes were slowly trickling down her back and she knew she would have trouble sleeping due to the stinging in her wounds.

The sound of the whip flying through the air prepared her for the twelfth lash and she managed to keep quiet.

"You amaze me," the man said, sounding as if he was out of breath. She didn't say anything to him. "Not many people could take this like you do."

The man put away the whip and Lisbon let out of a sigh of relief. It was finally over. Though she didn't dare move, knowing that every movement would shoot more pain up her back.

She flinched as he ran a hand down her back, stroking her as if comforting a child and possibly smearing the blood.

"Your skin is so beautiful," he hummed. "Such a shame you will be marred with these scars."

 _I will still love you,_ she heard Jane speak to her and a small smile tugged on her lips. He always knew what to say to comfort her.

The man behind her suddenly tugged at her hair, pulling her head back, his mouth breathing into her ear.

"I know what you did," he whispered, his breath hot on her skin. "Telling the kids the truth will only make things worse. I'm not above killing children, Teresa." Could he really be that cruel? Or perhaps he was bluffing, just wanting to scare the women there.

"I didn't tell them anything," Lisbon told him as if she needed to defend herself to him. She'd just gotten on his good side, though she hated herself for even thinking that thought, and now she had in a way shown him that she wasn't done fighting. "I was just curious. Wanted to know why they never went outside."

"You know what they say. Curiosity kills the cat," he snickered and let go of her hair, letting her fall back on the bed with a thud.

"I'm sorry," she forced herself to say. "I won't do it again."

That was a stupid thing to promise as she knew she had every intention to talk to the kids again, but she would just have to be more careful. She almost felt ashamed of how weak she sounded right now, but she had to remind herself that she was playing a part so that she could get them all out of there in one piece.

"C-can I please go clean up now?" She stuttered, playing the perfect submissive, but also really wanting to be left alone to wash away the blood.

"Go ahead," he said, but didn't make a move to leave.

"Alone?" She asked, but that was just met with a dark chuckle. "I think you'll need help washing your back and dressing those wounds. Wouldn't want them to get infected, now would we?"

She was quiet for the longest moment, her mind searching for the best way to answer that.

 _You know he's right,_ Jane whispered and she hated hearing him agree with that monster, but still she slowly rose from the bed, covering herself as well as she could with both hands. Asking him to send one of the other women in there to help her instead, would probably just make him laugh again. Oh how she hated his laughter.

"No need to be shy," he snickered and she wanted nothing more than to punch that smug look off his face.

 _An infection doesn't look so bad right now,_ she told Jane's voice. This was so humiliating and she couldn't believe she was putting herself through this. Had she really sunk that low? No she was doing this to survive, to get out. Fighting him didn't do any good, she'd learned that he would've gotten what he wanted no matter what. Lisbon would just have to stand with her back to him the entire time.

As soon as she entered the bathroom she turned the water on and stepped in, deciding the cold water would feel better against her back than the warmth. The brunette could hear the man's steps as he followed her inside. Her whole body tensed as his hand touched her shoulder blade and moved over her back to help wash away the blood, just like he promised he would.

The pain didn't bother her as much as his presence did, it was almost completely forgotten. Especially when the hand on her back just continued lower across her backside and between her legs. She inhaled sharply and swallowed hard.

"My back…" was the only words she got out, but hopefully he would understand her message.

"I just can't help myself," he whispered huskily and to her relief that hand disappeared.

The water was getting painfully hot from the last time she showered, but the only thing she could focus on was the sound of his movements behind her. What the hell was he doing? The silence couldn't mean anything good.

"I am done now," she spoke, her voice firmer than she intended. "Hand me my towel."

Again that chuckle that always caused her to shudder in disgust. His hand touched her shoulder again, but instead of stroking her back, he roughly turned her around and by reflex she quickly covered her body with her arms, gasping at his naked form. Previously, Lisbon had tried hard not to look at him and she'd always managed to focus her eyes anywhere except him, but this time she failed. Nothing should've surprised her now when it came to him, but she still couldn't believe what he was going to do even after a week of just this. Or perhaps she just didn't want to believe.

"What can I say? Seeing your naked body made me horny."

Lisbon wanted to throw up at his words. She could feel bile rise in her throat, but she swallowed it down to allow herself to talk.

"Fine, I'll get it myself," she managed to say when the shock was over.

Still covering herself with her arms, she reached over to grab a towel and took a step out of the shower, but he was fast to stop her.

"What do you think will happen if I activate that necklace now that you're all wet?" He asked her, darkly, already knowing the answer of course. And so did she. But would he really do that after everything he'd worked for? She doubted he would, but she wasn't about to call his bluff.

"Don't…" She shook her head, pleading with him. "My back…" She didn't know why she thought she could find a human side of him. This was a guy who took pleasure in hurting women.

Pulling her body flush against his, he pressed his lips against hers, shoving his tongue into her mouth. Lisbon's groan was silenced by him and sounded too much like a moan. The man pressed her up against the wall and she squirmed in hopes to get away from him. The weight of his body kept her firmly in place.

His big, disgusting hands roamed over her body, squeezing, probing, stroking, violating her. The wounds on her back sent a shooting pain through her body, a welcoming feeling right now. Hopefully the pain would be so overwhelming that she'd pass out or just throw up; she'd been doing that a lot the past week.

His hands gripped her thighs and hoisted her up before shoving himself inside of her.

Every night this week she had searched for Jane's voice to get her through this, but now she couldn't find him anywhere. This time when she felt him enter her with a grunt that would forever hunt her dreams, her fighting instincts kicked in more than ever in a rush of panic. Her hand reached up and scratched him across his face, feeling skin gathering under her nails which gave her a new kind of satisfaction.

The man let out a growl. "You bitch!"

"You really gotta come up with new insults," she panted, liking the old her, even if she'd worked hard to play along.

He did not like this side of her though as he grabbed her hair and slammed her head against the tiled wall, the loud crack echoing through the small bathroom. Black spots clouded her vision and she knew that she was on the brink of unconsciousness.

"Hit a sore spot?" She slurred and she smiled when he slammed her against the wall again. The darkness that followed was a welcomed gift.

—

 _April 11th_

The outside of Brian Sanders' house looked picturesque, a big light yellow house with a white picket fence. Anyone walking past would think a happy family lived inside of those doors and perhaps they were, the wife and daughter painfully unaware of the husband's dark secrets.

On the driveway a gray Prius stood parked and a pink bike was scattered. In fact, a lot of proof from the daughter's outside activities was scattered across the front lawn.

Jane and Cho walked up to the white door and rang the doorbell. They were just about to ring a second time when a woman in her 50s opened the door. The woman was beautiful, but worn, dark circles under her eyes and graying hair. It would look beautiful if she'd let all of it turn gray instead of coloring every month.

"Ma'am, I'm agent Cho and this is Patrick Jane, we are from the FBI and would like to ask you some questions."

"Is everything okay? Has something happened to Sally? Or Brian?" The woman asked, concern etching her voice.

"They are both fine," Cho said, seriously. "May we come in?"

"Oh, yes… Of course," the woman said, a little more relieved this time. "Would you like anything to drink?" She offered.

"No," Jane was the one to answer and Cho had to admit he'd never before heard Jane turn down a cup of tea.

They followed the woman into the kitchen and sat down by the table.

"Your husband's at work?" Cho asked.

"Yes, he's a lawyer at Sander's and Davidson's," she smiled at them, but both could tell she was nervous, as most people were in the company of law-enforcement.

"Does he work a lot?" Jane wondered.

"Yes, he's the owner so he has to be there every day," she laughed a little awkwardly and moved a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Many late nights then?" Jane wondered. "And weekends?"

"Like I said, he works a lot. Sometimes he comes home at 2 AM and other times he just decides to sleep there."

Jane and Cho knew it was highly unlikely that anyone would work that much, even if they were the owner, and Jane doubted this woman believed those lies.

"You think he's cheating on you," Jane said as-a-matter-of-factly. The statement was met with silence, but he could tell he'd been right.

"What am I supposed to believe?" Her voice sounded more bitter now. "He's never home and when he does come home he stinks of either alcohol or another woman. He smells like sex and doesn't even have the decency to shower before going to bed next to me. And this morning he had a scratch across his cheek and a nasty one at that, but he just blamed a stray dog on the street. We haven't had sex since Sally was born, he doesn't even want to touch me."

After the rant, the woman let out a breath of relief, as if she'd been keeping these secrets for so long and finally saying these things out loud felt really good.

"Do you know where your husband was the morning of the 20th?" Cho finally asked.

Mrs. Sanders shook her head. "No, he didn't sleep at home that night. Probably with his mistress." She wiped away a tear that was slowly rolling down his cheek. "What is this about?"

"We have a reason to believe that your husband is involved in a kidnapping," Cho said honestly. "We think it's probably best if you and your daughter find someplace else to stay right now."

"You can't be serious. He would ne..." But she stopped before she could finish that sentence as she knew that her husband really could be capable of something like that.

"What?" Jane probed.

"There was this one thing when we had just started dating," she said hesitantly and Jane nodded encouragingly to keep her talking. "He had these fantasies. He was really into BDSM and wanted to roleplay. He wanted me to fight back, to not want any of what he was doing, like som kind of sick rape fantasy. He wanted to tie me to the bed and gag me and he got a thrill out of punishments. The whip was his favorite…"

"And did you go through with it?" Cho asked and a blush spread across her face.

"Only once, but I didn't like it and I told him that," she said quickly, very embarrassed.

"And how did he react?"

"He took it well, said he still wanted to be with me and was happy I at least tried it."

"And how long ago was that?"

"Gosh, I think about 16 years ago," the woman said, looking between the men.

"Around the time of the first kidnapping," Cho said and looked at Jane who had been quiet ever since they learned about Brian's true sexual nature.

"First kidnapping? You think he's taken more than one woman?" Mrs. Sanders asked.

"Yes, would you mind if we take a look around the house?"

"No, but you don't think he's kept them here, do you? I'm home all the time so I would've noticed."

"But there might be evidence of where he's keeping them," Jane said. Or that he is in fact keeping them.

"You should start with this office. I'm never allowed in there."


End file.
